"I am Your Mom and I am in Charge!"
Good morning,
On Thursday and I normally do a Throw back post, but it's not ready and I've had a rough 10 minutes this morning.
I overslept and was trying to get to work on time.... which is not something I'm good at... Then my son and I got into a fight.
I was slathering him with sunscreen lotion, when he got mad at me and said that he didn't like the way that I was doing it. All hell broke lose after that ! I was tired, hungry and when I'm running late for work, my emotions are always running high!
My son - I have asked you to not put on the sunblock like that! Take it off!
Me- like what?
MS- The way you are doing it? ( I took the bottle and drew a sunblock line on both of his arms)
Me- It doesn't make a difference, just rub it on.
MS- No! Take it off!
Me- (losing my patience) No, rub it on.
MS- Why do I have to do everything you say?
Me- Because I'm your mother and I'm in charge
MS- My dad is in charge of me
Me- Your dad and I are both in charge, and your dad is not here right now.
MS- I wish my dad was here, he has the spray sunblock
Me- But he is not, and you need to rub on your sunblock
MS- I don't like it when you tell me what to do
Me- I don't like it when you talk back
MS- I want to go with my dad
Me- You can go with your dad today after summer camp, right now it's time for Summer camp.
MS... walking silently to summer camp... You are hurting my feelings
Me- You are also hurting my feelings.
MS- I don't like your sunblock, take it off!
Me (now whispering to my son, because I whisper when I get angry)- Now listen here love, I am not taking off your sunblock, you are going to keep it on, all day... because if you don't, your skin could get sick, very sick and it could be very bad. I hear you when you say you are mad at me and that I'm making you sad, but this is not the way to behave at summer camp. I am in charge right now, even if you don't like it, even if you wish your Dad was here. You are going to give me a hug and a kiss and then you are going to go into your classroom, sit down and finish your breakfast. I love you very much, and I wish we didn't have this fight. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings.
He leaned on me with his chest and walked away... not really a hug... but I was done with this fight. I went over and gave him a real hug, a kiss on the head and left.
The whole thing bothered me a lot, and I reviewed it over and over in my head, but couldn't think of what I could have done differently.
I am sharing this very intimate moment with my son with you, a reader of this blog. You can laugh at it, sympathies, or just roll your eyes at me. Just don't judge me, or at least don't judge me in the comments!
I'm off to drowning my sorrows in coffee and finish my audits, and hope your Thursday is going better than mine.
On Thursday and I normally do a Throw back post, but it's not ready and I've had a rough 10 minutes this morning.
I overslept and was trying to get to work on time.... which is not something I'm good at... Then my son and I got into a fight.
I was slathering him with sunscreen lotion, when he got mad at me and said that he didn't like the way that I was doing it. All hell broke lose after that ! I was tired, hungry and when I'm running late for work, my emotions are always running high!
My son - I have asked you to not put on the sunblock like that! Take it off!
Me- like what?
MS- The way you are doing it? ( I took the bottle and drew a sunblock line on both of his arms)
Me- It doesn't make a difference, just rub it on.
MS- No! Take it off!
Me- (losing my patience) No, rub it on.
MS- Why do I have to do everything you say?
Me- Because I'm your mother and I'm in charge
MS- My dad is in charge of me
Me- Your dad and I are both in charge, and your dad is not here right now.
MS- I wish my dad was here, he has the spray sunblock
Me- But he is not, and you need to rub on your sunblock
MS- I don't like it when you tell me what to do
Me- I don't like it when you talk back
MS- I want to go with my dad
Me- You can go with your dad today after summer camp, right now it's time for Summer camp.
MS... walking silently to summer camp... You are hurting my feelings
Me- You are also hurting my feelings.
MS- I don't like your sunblock, take it off!
Me (now whispering to my son, because I whisper when I get angry)- Now listen here love, I am not taking off your sunblock, you are going to keep it on, all day... because if you don't, your skin could get sick, very sick and it could be very bad. I hear you when you say you are mad at me and that I'm making you sad, but this is not the way to behave at summer camp. I am in charge right now, even if you don't like it, even if you wish your Dad was here. You are going to give me a hug and a kiss and then you are going to go into your classroom, sit down and finish your breakfast. I love you very much, and I wish we didn't have this fight. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings.
He leaned on me with his chest and walked away... not really a hug... but I was done with this fight. I went over and gave him a real hug, a kiss on the head and left.
The whole thing bothered me a lot, and I reviewed it over and over in my head, but couldn't think of what I could have done differently.
I am sharing this very intimate moment with my son with you, a reader of this blog. You can laugh at it, sympathies, or just roll your eyes at me. Just don't judge me, or at least don't judge me in the comments!
I'm off to drowning my sorrows in coffee and finish my audits, and hope your Thursday is going better than mine.
Omg this is too funny! (I'm laughing with you).
ReplyDeleteI got into an argument with my husband this weekend about the way he was applying sunscreen to the back of my neck. It was getting in my hair and pinching. Hey, we all have our battles..lol. Good luck!
Thank you Meranda ! Yes! We have our battles ! Husbands don't understand the hair with sunscreen problem!
DeleteAw I am sorry this ruined your morning. You are right there is nothing you could have done different. I think you handled it perfectly! Seriously, was there any way to make him happy in that situation?? Anything short of saying "okay let's go to your dad's" (which clearly was not possible) was not going to make him happy. Instead, you recognized his feelings, made sure he knew you loved him, and sent him on his way. GOOD MAMA!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Megan! the whole thing was stressing me out a lot! But I finally decided to "let it go" by noon. Then when I talked to him last night I apologized again, and he said "It's ok mom. I love you".
ReplyDeleteI think you handled this SO MUCH BETTER than I would have. I know you handled it better than my parents handled similar issues. It's hard when kids talk back, but especially when they bring the other parent into it. Try not to take it personally! You know this is something he won't dwell on, and he doesn't mean to hurt your feelings.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth getting the spray sunblock just to avoid future arguments, though.